Imperial Valley

Linda Hamby was sound asleep with the rest of her family in their Westmorland home early Saturday when she heard the thunder. The rain was unlike anything she saw, Hamby said. “We thought we were going to float away. I don’t know how many inches of rain it was but it was a mud hole here,” she said. “I never heard so much thunder. We’re hoping it’s over.” Imperial Valley residents could receive a reprieve today after a fierce thunderstorm pummeled the county Saturday, leaving scattered power outages and flooded roads.

DAN BYERLY Services will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Glen Abbey Memorial Park and Mortuary at 3838 Bonita Road in Bonita for Dan Byerly, 82, of Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, who died June 11 in his home. Mr. Byerly was born March 12, 1919. He served with honors as a pilot and landing signal officer for the U.S. Navy during World War II. He married his first wife, Merle Oliver, in 1942. She died in 1987. They had lived in the Imperial Valley until 1983, when they moved to Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

Imperial Police and California Highway Patrol officiers had their hands full today as several crashes unfolded around the Imperial Valley. In Imperial, police responded two separate crashes. A 19-year-old El Centro man was arrested on a felony hit and run charge after he fled the scene of a crash at Highway 86 and 6th Street that involved four cars, said Imperial Police Sgt. Dub Perkins. The crash occurred at 1 p.m. when Leonel Diaz Lopez was arrested. Two of his five passengers, all of whom were undocumented immigrants, suffered minor injuries while the rest fled the scene only to be caught by authorities, Perkins said.

IMPERIAL — This weekend marks the second annual Imperial County Aviation Day, an event meant to celebrate the importance of the Imperial County Airport to the economy and the history of aviation in the region. The free community event will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Imperial County Airport. “Last year’s Aviation Day was a greater success than any of us on the planning committee could have imagined,” said Jennifer Donatt, Imperial County Aviation Day planning committee chairwoman.

As the thermometer reached 110 degrees Wednesday, Roxanna Lopez stepped outside of her downtown El Centro office to purchase popsicles from a push-cart ice cream vendor. “As soon as we hear that little bell, we know he’s coming by,” said Lopez, who cooled off in her Desert Properties office with a pineapple Popsicle. “We’re like little kids running to get ice cream.” Lopez, of Calexico, is a Valley native. However, she said she has never adjusted to the summer temperatures like the ones that hit during this week’s heat wave.

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City Councilman John Moreno snapped this photo of a fallen palm tree at San Diego State University-Imperial Valley campus this morning. Strong winds caused the tree to fall and cause minor roof damage to the university building. The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for the area shortly before 2 a.m. Friday with strong winds expected through most of the day. The advisory remains in effect until 7 p.m. tonight. Winds will increase through the morning and be strongest during the afternoon, according to the advisory.

For the first time in Salton Sea history, federal funds are now budgeted to allow the Army Corps of Engineers to begin restoring the Salton Sea. Some $200,000 in the Army Civil Works budget is designated specifically for the Salton Sea Authority to devise goals and procedures restoration of the Salton Sea. More than 400 species of migrating waterfowl use the Salton Sea as a resting habitat on the Pacific Flyway. The sea is shrinking due to drought and the transfer of water from Imperial Valley to the coast.

The local chapter of the NAACP is coming back, and those interested in the organization can attend a meet and greet this evening when the 2013 officers will also be sworn in. The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is “to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights for all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.” “We need to stay focused on that purpose and...

BRAWLEY - A Georgia man and his son are crossing through the Valley this week as they wrap up their cross-country adventure completed entirely either on foot or bicycle. Todd Gouge, 42, and his son Colin Gouge, 21, left Georgia on foot Jan. 16, dubbing the journey “Toddzilla Walks.” Todd, weighing 435 pounds when he began, and Colin, weighing 300 pounds when he started, only walked four to five miles a day in the beginning, later working up to 15 miles a day. By the time the pair reached Weatherford, Texas, they decided to continue their journey on bicycle, going an average of 30 miles a day. They hope to reach Mission Beach within a week.

WESTMORLAND - Brandon Walker, from Seeley, believes fishing is part of the Imperial Valley environment and for that reason Walker decided to participate in a catfish tournament last weekend. “I have been fishing since I was a little boy,” said Walker. “It is just something you do in the Valley.” This was Walker's first year competing in the sixth annual Catfish Tournament. Adults and juniors throughout the Imperial Valley took to canals May 11 morning in search of channel and flathead catfish.

Dr. Benjamin Lehr remembers a time when El Centro stopped at Adams Avenue and the Imperial Valley convalescent home was at the end of the farmland. That is how long Lehr has practiced medicine in the Valley, for 50 years. On average Lehr said he sees nearly 40 patients a day. Although he officially retired in December, he continues to practice at the El Centro Regional Medical Center Outpatient Clinic in El Centro. “I would go crazy if I didn't do something,” said Lehr, when asked why he continues to practice medicine.

A dog park is as much for people as for dogs.    Canine and human friends are made at dog parks, as people have something to talk about as their dogs romp. That is what people will find when a dog park opens in Imperial in coming months. After surveying residents and finding widespread support for a dog park, the Imperial City Council on Wednesday approved the establishment of a park at the corner of Cross and Taylor roads on the city's southeast side. It is about time that a dog park was opened in the Imperial Valley.

> > 50 Years Ago   - Thousands of dollars in prizes will be given away during the two days, plus balloons for the youngsters and a special free gift to every adult. In addition to the Grand Prizes, McMahan's will also award many $10 gift certificates each day. Mr. A.A. Asper, general manager of the McMahan's Stores said, “It became obvious several months ago that with all of the activity in the City of Calexico, a good local furniture store would provide Imperial Valley homemakers with another source for their home furnishings in one of the most active cities in the Valley.

IMPERIAL - The critical nature of the Valley's economy and future took center stage Thursday as a top representative from the United States Department of Agriculture met with local stakeholders in a roundtable discussion. USDA Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Judith A. Canales is a native of the border town of Uvalde, Texas, and has received two presidential appointments as the Administrator for USDA Rural Development rural business cooperative programs in Washington, D.C. The Imperial Valley Economic Outlook Roundtable targeted a variety of topics including maquiladoras, bio-fuels, renewable energy, algae, agricultural exports and the Calexico ports of entry.

A free speed camp for 200 pre-registered Imperial Valley children, ages 10 to 18, will be hosted Saturday by G-Rob Fitness and the House of Hope Advisory Committee at Southwest High in El Centro, stated a press release from the Catholic Charities Diocese of San Diego and the Imperial Valley on Thursday. The speed camp will offer a variety of different fitness stations, visited by each child throughout the morning, with coaches to teach the children and cheer them on. The kids will have fun, make new friends, exercise and learn new skills.

Mariachi music has been a part of the Imperial Valley for most of the area's existence, likely back to its settling. Here on the border, our culture is shared with if not dominated by the Mexican culture. And mariachi music is a huge part of the Mexican culture. Mariachis perform in Valley bars and restaurants, at family parties and at area festivals. Local amateurs have been known to get up from their tables and chairs to sing with mariachis, often to the great joy of the professionals being paid to play the music.

EL CAJON - Southwest High junior Kevin Mendoza, who isn't even considered the best performer on the Eagles, is a prime example of why swimming is quickly coming into its own in the Imperial Valley. Mendoza posted the top qualifying mark in the 100-meter butterfly, gaining the prized center lane, following Wednesday's prelims of the CIF-San Diego Section Division II swim championships, held at the new East County Aquatics Center at Granite Hills High. Mendoza is one of several local athletes to advance to Saturday's finale, almost all in specialty strokes - back, breast and butterfly - instead of freestyle events.

> > 50 Years Ago   - SACRAMENTO - The bill giving seven miles of Imperial County river frontage to Arizona will now go to a conference committee of senators and assemblymen following a defeat of the bill in the Senate yesterday. Assemblyman Victor Veysey of Imperial Valley said he had hopes of being appointed to the conference committee, but nothing definite has been settled on this point to date. The agreement worked out by the California-Arizona Colorado River Boundary Commission also had been approved by Arizona and was supported by Gov. Edmund G. Brown.

> > 50 Years Ago   - Brawley, Holtville and El Centro chambers of commerce sent wires to Assemblyman Victor Veysey, protesting the proposed road from Niland to Winterhaven on the east side f the railroad track and the dune area. This road would cut off traffic heading north on Highway 99 at Winterhaven, and reduce the amount of travel through such towns as Holtville, El Centro, Brawley and Westmorland. The bill was introduced by Assemblyman Gordon Cologne of Indio, and is being discussed in the Assembly today.